Introduction: Women at the extremes: why far-right female activism matters

Although receiving growing scholarly attention, the role of women in far-right activism remains relatively under-researched (Mulinari and Neergard Reference Mulinari and Neergard2005; Carter Reference Carter2013; Stinton Reference Stinton2019). The primary aim of this article is to reconstruct the political aspirations of women in the Italian far right between the late 1970s and early 1980s and to investigate their engagement with feminist thought. Did Italian far-right women reject feminism outright, adopt its dominant theoretical frameworks, or formulate an alternative feminist model of their own? To address these questions, the article examines the bimonthly magazine Eowyn, first published in 1976 with a circulation of 2,500 copies per issue (Caldiron Reference Caldiron2020, 62; Ilardi and Scandurra Reference Ilardi and Scandurra2009, 82). Contributors and readers of Eowyn included female militants from a range of far-right organisations in Italy, from the Fronte della Gioventù (FdG), the youth wing of the parliamentary right represented by the Italian Social Movement (MSI), to the extra-parliamentary group Ordine Nuovo (ON) (Alferi and Mazzone Reference Alferi and Mazzone1979, 137; A più mani 1982, 54). This article is therefore situated within the broader scholarly field examining the intersections of gender and far-right activism, a subject that has received increasing attention in recent years (Klatch Reference Klatch2010; Miller-Idriss and Pilkington Reference Miller-Idriss and Pilkington2017; Blee Reference Blee2002; Reference Blee2018; Miller-Idriss Reference Miller-Idriss2020; Campion Reference Campion2020; Askanius Reference Askanius2021).

Historically, far-right militants have often been depicted – frequently relying on stereotypes – as white, angry, and violent men (Cockburn Reference Cockburn2007), and it was long assumed that women were largely impervious to the ideological appeals of the far right (Miller-Idriss Reference Miller-Idriss2020, 1). Recent scholarship, however, indicates that women are increasingly joining and participating in populist far-right parties and movements across Europe (Campion Reference Campion2020; Allen and Goodman Reference Allen and Goodman2021; Stinton Reference Stinton2019; Stasulane Reference Stasulane2017; Mulinari and Neergaard Reference Mulinari, Neergaard, Köttig, Bitzan and Petö2018). This trend is reflected in the growing number of women who currently occupy – or have recently occupied – leadership positions in far-right parties, including Marine Le Pen of the French Front National (now become the Rassemblement National), Jayda Fransen of Britain First, Giorgia Meloni of Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), and Alice Weidel of Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). These developments underscore the pressing need for research that addresses the gaps in our understanding of the motivations driving women to support such political movements (Stinton Reference Stinton2019, 86). Moreover, newspapers across the political spectrum have recently raised questions about why, in Italy, women appear more likely to attain leadership positions within far-right parties than within left-wing ones (Caporale Reference Caporale2021; Dell’Orco Reference Dell’Orco2021; Casadio Reference Casadio2021).

As Kathleen Blee (Reference Blee2002) observes, women on the far right are neither simply misled by men nor pathologically ignorant, as they are sometimes depicted in left-wing narratives. It is therefore essential to examine the participation and ideas of far-right women within their specific political contexts. According to Blee (Reference Blee1996, 681), the neglect of women’s activism in both historical and contemporary far-right movements presents a significant problem for two main reasons. First, it impedes a comprehensive understanding of far-right movements. Second, the exclusive focus on men has produced a distorted theoretical framework, limiting insight into why increasing numbers of women are joining these movements. While some studies have shown that far-right men occasionally exhibit oppositional attitudes toward militant women (Lesselier Reference Lesselier, Bacchetta and Power2002; Ness Reference Ness2008), Blee and Kimberly Creasap (Reference Blee and Creasap2010) highlight the importance of analysing these interactions to understand what renders women receptive to far-right ideologies, what motivates their militancy, and what facilitates their advancement within parties and movements. Following Blee’s methodological recommendations, this article examines the participation of women in the Italian far right during the late 1970s and early 1980s – a phenomenon that has thus far received preliminary scholarly attention through the study of Eowyn, a magazine representing far-right women during this period (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a; Reference Guerra2024, 184–212).

Building upon feminist theories of agency, subjectivation, and ideology (Butler Reference Butler2006; Mahmood Reference Mahmood2011; McNay Reference McNay2000; Scott Reference Scott2011), this article approaches women’s engagement in the far right not as an anomaly or a contradiction, but as a privileged site through which the gendered configurations of political radicalism may be interrogated. Rather than casting far-right women as passive recipients of patriarchal discourses, the analysis foregrounds their capacity to negotiate, internalise, and rearticulate dominant ideological formations within particular sociopolitical contexts. In doing so, it advances a relational conception of agency that moves beyond the binary opposition between resistance and subordination, and instead attends to the complex modalities through which political subjectivities are constituted within authoritarian and nationalist frameworks. This theoretical vantage point allows for a more refined understanding of far-right women’s activism as a terrain in which competing discourses of femininity, citizenship, and modernity intersect, and within which these actors may simultaneously reproduce and transform the gendered logics that underpin far-right thought and practice.

Building upon feminist theoretical frameworks, this article situates women’s engagement with the far right not merely as an anomaly or a contradiction, but as a critical site through which the gendered architectures of political radicalism can be interrogated. Drawing on the concepts of agency and subjectivation (Butler Reference Butler2006; Mahmood Reference Mahmood2011; McNay Reference McNay2000; Scott Reference Scott2011), the analysis considers how women internalise, negotiate, and rearticulate dominant ideological formations, thereby enacting forms of political subjectivity that are simultaneously constrained by and constitutive of far-right patriarchal structures. Here, feminist ideology functions as a lens for examining the mechanisms through which women construct their political selves within authoritarian and nationalist contexts, highlighting the interplay between individual action and structural constraint.

Central to this investigation are the competing discourses of femininity, citizenship, and modernity, which serve as axes through which women’s political engagement is articulated. Femininity is constructed in relation to both traditionalist and nationalist ideals, often valorising maternal and patriotic roles (Blee Reference Blee2002; Miller-Idriss Reference Miller-Idriss2020). Citizenship delineates the parameters of political inclusion, specifying who may participate and in what capacities, while modernity frames women’s efforts to reconcile social expectations with political ambition (Mahmood Reference Mahmood2011; Scott Reference Scott2011). By situating these discourses within the practices of far-right women, the analysis foregrounds a relational conception of agency that moves beyond the binary of resistance versus subordination, attending instead to the nuanced modalities through which women enact, negotiate, and sometimes transform the ideological logics of the far right.

Importantly, the magazine Eowyn provides a privileged empirical site through which these theoretical frameworks can be operationalised and examined. Its content illuminates how far-right women negotiate agency in practice, engage in processes of subjectivation by internalising and reinterpreting ideological norms, and articulate competing discourses of femininity, citizenship, and modernity within the specific sociopolitical context of late 1970s and early 1980s Italy. In doing so, Eowyn allows for a nuanced exploration of how women’s activism both reproduces and transforms far-right ideologies, bridging the gap between abstract theoretical concepts and concrete empirical observations.

The birth of Eowyn: unveiling the feminist legacy behind the name

According to some sources, the founders of Eowyn were a group of female militants associated with the Padua chapter of the Fronte della Gioventù (FdG) (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 299), later joined by women from other cities and radical movements (Alferi and Mazzone Reference Alferi and Mazzone1979, 137; A più mani 1982, 54). The magazine’s name was inspired by Éowyn, the heroine of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1970), whom the editors described as ‘the symbol of the ideal condition of woman’ (La redazione Reference redazione1976, 2). Tolkien’s works, widely popular among young far-right militants, were appropriated as a cultural reference that simultaneously expressed generational renewal and ideological positioning within the Italian far right (Pandolfi Reference Pandolfi2000, 71; Guerra Reference Guerra2024, 188–189).

Notably, the adoption of Tolkien also entailed an ecological dimension, reflecting a broader ideological trend within European far-right thought that valorised communion with nature as a means of enacting purity, discipline, and resistance to the modern world (Goodrick-Clarke Reference Goodrick-Clarke2001; Camus Reference Camus2021; Miller-Idriss Reference Miller-Idriss2020). In the Italian context, this translated into lifestyle practices and cultural symbols, such as the so-called Hobbit Camps, which embodied ecological consciousness, rejection of industrial modernity, and an idealised connection with the natural world (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 302). Such practices illustrate how ecological concerns were not merely personal preferences, but were embedded within a far-right ideological framework that linked nature, tradition, and nationalist identity. This framing enables a more systematic understanding of the symbolic and political significance of Tolkien for far‑right women militants in Italy, illustrating modalities and discursive pathways that resonate beyond the historical period under study and find echoes in contemporary articulations of far‑right environmental thought, as documented in emerging scholarship on eco‑fascist and far‑right engagements with ecological and naturist themes (Forchtner Reference Forchtner2020; Lubarda Reference Lubarda2024; Guerra Reference Guerra2025).

The magazine Eowyn also attracted the attention of Italian intelligence, which, in a recently declassified report, described it as follows:

The far-right women behind Eowyn sought to articulate not only the origins of the magazine’s name but also its objectives and their perceived duty to make their voices heard within a society and political landscape long criticised for marginalising women. Eowyn states:

Figure 1.

Cover of Eowyn magazine depicting the heroine Éowyn, as portrayed in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. All the photographs illustrating this article are by the author, and the magazines are in the author’s private collection.

Figure 1 Long description

Text reads 'EOWYN' and 'ALTERNATIVE FEMMINILI'. Below the text is a full-cover illustration. A winged dragon is shown in the center with a rider seated on its back, holding a raised weapon. In front of the dragon, a standing figure holds a sword and a shield. Several figures lie on the ground around them, with weapons and shields scattered nearby. The background shows a rocky landscape and a sky filled with clouds. Text reads 'HILDEBRANDT'.

Figure 2.

Article from Eowyn in which far-right women explain the origins of the magazine’s name.

Figure 2 Long description

Pag. 2 EOWYN perchè EOWYN Il titolo di questo giornale è tratto dal romanzo di Tolkien - Il Signore degli Anelli -. Un romanzo dalla trama apparentemente semplice, denso di simboli significativi. EOWYN è un personaggio femminile. Abbiamo scelto la figura di questa protagonista perchè la vediamo come simbolo della condizione ideale della donna, sia storicamente che attualmente, trascendendo le false dicotomie tra i sessi che definiscono una società decaduta in cui i significati e i valori dei termini ‘UOMO’ e ‘DONNA’ si sono completamente persi. Con la nostra iniziativa vogliamo promuovere un dibattito che contribuisca a restituire alla donna la consapevolezza del suo vero ruolo e della sua autentica dimensione. Ci rivolgiamo in particolare alla donna contemporanea, che non è mai stata così soggetta a mistificazioni e manovre demagogiche da parte di chi ha deliberatamente ignorato la sua identità e le sue preoccupazioni per decenni. La redazione si prende l’impegno di portare avanti questo discorso, senza alcuna pretesa di rivalsa stiamo spingendo la donna verso una cifra di identità del tutto nuova che si oppone ai falsi stereotipi e alle soluzioni di frustrazione per meri scopi politici. L’illusione di un momento di grande confusione che si sta vivendo è che la donna possa trovare una sua dimensione in un mondo che non è mai stato così massificato e liberalizzato. LA REDAZIONE.

Eowyn under dual lenses: insights from Marxist feminists and far-right men

In the spring of 1981, the magazine Eowyn attracted the attention of Noidonne, an anti-fascist publication with a communist orientation, which conducted a journalistic investigation into the young women of the far right (Neonato Reference Neonato1981). After reconstructing the diverse forms of female militancy within Eowyn, which appeared to serve as a catalyst for far-right women across different movements, Noidonne attributed to the magazine the ambition to break away from the earlier female milieu of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), ironically portrayed as outdated and irrelevant (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 303). Noidonne offered a largely positive assessment of Eowyn’s initiative, describing the militant women involved as contemporary figures who dressed similarly to their peers and engaged in discussions on ecology, politics, feminism, societal crises, biology, abortion, family, and rock music. Politically, the publication noted that these young women not only admired Tolkien’s Nordic sagas but also referenced Mao, presenting themselves as right-wing Gramscians (Neonato Reference Neonato1981, 63). The excerpt below from Noidonne provides a detailed description of the far-right women authors of Eowyn:

Figure 3.

Page from Eowyn magazine celebrating J.R.R. Tolkien. The Italian text reads: ‘Deep roots do not freeze; from the ashes, a fire will be reborn; the shadow will give off a spark; new will be the blade now broken; and king will be he who is without a crown’.

Figure 3 Long description

The page contains a grayscale photo at the top, followed by a multi-line poetic quote in Italian about renewal and the return of a king. The text reads: 'le radici profonde non gelano, dalle ceneri rinascerà un fuoco, l'ombra sprigionerà una scintilla; nuova sarà la lama ora rotta, e re quei ch'è senza corona.' The author's name, J.R.R. TOLKIEN, is in uppercase below the quote. The page number 'EOWYN / Pag. 13' is at the bottom. The layout includes a large photo at the top and text beneath it, with the author's name in uppercase. The tone is poetic and epigraph-like.

Some interpretations suggest that the imagery associated with Eowyn, particularly the revolutionary and fighter archetypes, enabled far-right women to navigate the misogyny within their political milieus and to distance themselves from a form of feminism perceived as bourgeois (Caldiron Reference Caldiron2020, 64). However, recent studies (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a; Reference Guerra2024) indicate that young male far-right militants welcomed Eowyn. While acknowledging the limited presence of women in the far-right milieu at the time, these young men reported that they ‘read the magazine consistently’, expressed pride in it, and demonstrated both personal and political respect for its female contributors (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 305). Consequently, Eowyn was valued by young male far-right militants as a marker of the modernisation of their political environment and as an indication of increasing female participation in political struggles.

Eowyn magazine: of women and not about women – the feminine voice in the context of the far right

Thirty-four per cent of the articles published in Eowyn are devoted to the condition of women in Italian and broader Western societies, whereas sixty-six per cent address a wide array of topics, including current affairs, education, music, fashion, sports, alternative radio, history, literature, drug addiction, and political violence (Guerra Reference Guerra2024, 194). Eowyn is conceived and produced as a magazine by women, rather than about women; its principal aim is to provide a platform through which far-right women may articulate their perspectives on a range of social, political, and cultural issues. The contributors of Eowyn explicitly claim that the magazine seeks to encourage women to formulate their own positions and to resist what they term the ‘tranquillity of cattle’ imposed on women by the state to inhibit protest against injustice (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 307). In this sense, the magazine foregrounds women as active authors and producers of ideas and opinions that extend beyond the realm of women’s issues to society more broadly. Furthermore, its diverse array of perspectives and narrative styles constitutes a deliberate counterpoint to a society perceived as homogenising and levelling, thereby asserting a form of intellectual and cultural resistance. (Fig. 4)

Figure 4.

An image reproduced from Eowyn enumerates several of the themes addressed by the magazine, including ‘woman, violence, Church, abortion, militancy, drugs, crafts, the press’.

Figure 4 Long description

The cover features bold, black typography with the word 'DONNA' prominently at the top. Other words such as 'VIOLENZA,' 'droga,' 'militanza,' 'aborto,' 'Chiesa,' 'STAMPA,' 'ARTI,' 'GIANATO' are arranged vertically and horizontally in various orientations. There is a high-contrast black-and-white illustration of a woman on the right side, with a yin-yang symbol near her. The layout is typographic with stacked and varied text sizes, creating a dynamic visual impact.

One of the most compelling thematic features of Eowyn is its rejection of the conventional logic of opposing extremisms, which, in Italy during this period, manifested in violent confrontations between the far right and the far left in the streets and public squares (Guerra Reference Guerra2020; Bull Reference Bull2012). The women contributing to Eowyn challenge this dichotomy, articulating a desire to transcend the entrenched polarisation of extremist factions. Rather than endorsing mutual hostility, they advocate for a form of unity between far-right and far-left actors in opposition to the capitalist state. This stance is similarly reflected in Noidonne (Neonato Reference Neonato1981), which characterises the militant women of Eowyn as proponents of such cross-ideological engagement:

The women of Eowyn do not repudiate the rebellion of 1977 (Grispigni Reference Grispigni2006; Guerra Reference Guerra2022b), which was distinguished by a marked ideological transversality in identifying the principal social issues at the heart of debate and generational unrest. The generationally and politically transversal character of the 1977 protests in Italy is reflected in the work of several scholars who employ the political neologism ‘black autonomy’ to describe young individuals associated with the far right (Lanaro Reference Lanaro2004; Colombo Reference Colombo2020, 80, 141; Colombo et al. Reference Colombo, Rao, Telese and Patierno2011, 15–16; Re Reference Re and Pastor2013, 81–102). Within this context of generational revolt, and grounded in a shared diagnosis of contemporary social and economic crises, the women of Eowyn articulate a political stance that draws on established traditions of far-right anti-capitalist thought. Rather than advancing a systemic critique of capitalism, their position reflects a selective form of anti-capitalism characteristic of the radical right, oriented towards opposing neoliberal globalisation, financial capitalism, and the liberal-capitalist state, while maintaining an emphasis on hierarchy, community, and national sovereignty (Galli and Gallesi Reference Galli and Gallesi2019; Kolozi Reference Kolozi2017). In this framework, Eowyn seeks to move beyond the logic of opposing extremisms and the conventional left-right divide, aligning with the ideological paradigm of neither right nor left identified by Sternhell, and envisioning a cross-ideological convergence between far-right and far-left actors united in their opposition to the conservative capitalist state, understood as the institutional guarantor of globalised economic power and liberal universalism (Sternhell Reference Sternhell1995; de Benoist Reference de Benoist2021; Renton Reference Renton2019).

Unveiling the roots: cultural influences in far-right feminism

The editorial team of Eowyn does not consistently adhere to a single feminist theoretical framework (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 310; Reference Guerra2024, 197). The articles published within the magazine frequently convey diverse perspectives, contingent upon the subject under discussion, such as in debates surrounding female military conscription. An examination of the journal’s bibliographic references reveals a network of authors who have variously informed the intellectual orientations of the women associated with Eowyn. For example, Arianna Stassinopoulos is positioned in contrast to Germaine Greer and her work The Female Eunuch (Reference Greer1970). The contributors to Eowyn draw upon Stassinopoulos for her critique of women who, despite expanded employment opportunities, continue to perceive earning income and managing finances as primarily the prerogative of men (Guerra Reference Guerra2024, 198). Stassinopoulos’s La femme femme (Reference Stassinopoulos1975) is similarly cited, as it enables the women of Eowyn to articulate a distinction between ‘emancipation’ – understood as independence from men and equal access to opportunities, which they consider legitimate and necessary – and ‘liberation’, which, in the view of far-right women, signifies a retreat into individualism and a doctrine of mass selfishness (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 310).

Another author frequently referenced in Eowyn is Betty Friedan, particularly her work The Second Stage (Reference Friedan1981). Friedan is cited in relation to the magazine’s aim to move beyond what the contributors describe as ‘feminist mysticism’ and to realise a form of partnership with men, encapsulated in the slogan: ‘no longer against but with the man’ (Isabella 1982, 13). In this context, it is deemed appropriate to quote the arguments presented by Isabella (1982) verbatim:

From this perspective, the women of Eowyn also seek to ‘refute feminist theses on rape, which are regarded as the quintessential example of male brutality’. Their position bears resemblance to that subsequently articulated by the prominent French feminist theorist Élisabeth Badinter (Reference Badinter2006, 30–33), who critiques the Manichean framework that casts the male-dominated sex as inherently evil and the female-dominated sex as inherently virtuous. According to Badinter, such a binary perspective carries significant consequences, including the advocacy of separatism and the adoption of a subversive, quasi-messianic form of feminist nationalism.

Christiane Collange’s seminal work Je veux rentrer à la maison (Reference Collange1980) is invoked in Eowyn to illuminate the persistent tension between domestic labour and formal employment in modern societies. Collange’s analysis of the annual exodus of roughly two hundred thousand French women from paid work to domestic roles suggests that the valorisation of housework may paradoxically accompany broader processes of industrialisation and labour market expansion. Drawing upon Collange’s findings, the women of Eowyn argue that women frequently inhabit an ambivalent position, tasked concurrently with unpaid domestic labour and the pursuit of professional equality with men (Reference MariaMaria n.d., 17). They maintain that women’s incorporation into the labour market is not intrinsically emancipatory but often reproduces gendered divisions of labour, generating a mass of formally employed women without addressing underlying structural inequities. Central to their position is the assertion that participation in the workforce should be predicated on genuine choice and agency, rather than economic compulsion or normative expectation (Wilma 1976, 4–5). This critique aligns with Catherine Hakim’s theory of heterogeneous work preferences, which recognises that women’s labour market engagement reflects diverse priorities rather than a uniform feminist imperative (Hakim Reference Hakim2000, 8).

To deepen this conceptual framework, it is instructive to situate Eowyn’s critique within the broader literature on the political economy of the contemporary radical right. Scholarship by Oscar Mazzoleni and Gilles Ivaldi demonstrates that radical right‑wing populist movements articulate coherent economic and welfare positions that intertwine with culturally conservative views on family and gender roles (Mazzoleni and Ivaldi Reference Mazzoleni and Ivaldi2024). Their work shows that radical right parties often combine sovereigntist and economic populist rhetoric with welfare chauvinism – advocating redistributive policies for so‑called ‘deserving’ insiders while opposing policies perceived as threatening to traditional family structures and male breadwinner norms (Mazzoleni and Ivaldi Reference Mazzoleni and Ivaldi2024). Empirical analyses of radical right family policy agendas further reveal a proclivity for promoting male‑breadwinner models and resisting de‑familialising measures such as expansive childcare or parental leave, thereby reinforcing gendered divisions of labour in practice (Giuliani Reference Giuliani2023). These political projects mobilise familialist discourses to appeal to constituencies that valorise traditional domestic roles and to frame women’s economic participation in ways that do not disrupt established hierarchies (Giuliani Reference Giuliani2023).

Complementary research in gender and political theory indicates that conservative and radical right discourses frequently frame women’s work and family roles in terms of ‘natural’ complementarity, implicitly circumscribing women’s agency by valorising caregiving and domestic labour as normative ideals. As Claire Rasmussen has shown, these discursive strategies often appear in populist rhetoric that positions feminist egalitarianism as antithetical to social cohesion, thereby reinscribing gendered labour divisions under the guise of defending women’s ‘true’ interests (Rasmussen Reference Rasmussen2023). Integrating these insights foregrounds the structural and ideological forces that shape women’s labour market choices and gendered labour divisions, reinforcing Eowyn’s argument that emancipation cannot be understood solely in terms of formal employment. Rather, meaningful agency involves contesting the political‑economic frameworks that delimit the conditions under which women exercise choice, and recognising how party politics and policy regimes – especially those allied with radical right ideologies – influence the gendered distribution of paid and unpaid work (Mazzoleni and Ivaldi, Reference Mazzoleni and Ivaldi2024; Giuliani Reference Giuliani2023).

Analysing the cornerstones of far-right discourse

Among the central themes of Eowyn is the rejection of historical narratives that construe the history of women as primarily a history of subjugation (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 312). The contributors to Eowyn argue that reconstructing women’s history solely through the prism of male-dominated roles over the centuries is misleading, as it overlooks the active participation of women alongside men as historical agents. They contend that such an interpretation risks perpetuating the notion of women’s inferiority and obscuring their substantive historical contributions (Wilma 1976, 4–5).

The women of Eowyn express concern regarding the distorting effects of what they perceive as a narrative of victimhood, which diminishes women’s historical roles. This phenomenon is later conceptualised by Badinter (Reference Badinter2006, 4–5) as the ‘cult of victimhood’, whereby feminism is positioned as a ‘champion of victimhood’. The contributors to Eowyn characterise this form of victimising feminism as ‘badly conceived and poorly learned’, arguing that it originates from the presumption of women’s historical inferiority and culminates in an enforced solidarity among women and other oppressed groups. According to the magazine, this results in women being ‘Negrised and Jewishised’, reflecting an erroneous conflation of gendered oppression with racial discrimination (Eowyn, n.d.). These observations resonate with broader debates in feminist theory and critical studies of victimhood, which suggest that narratives emphasising structural oppression may simultaneously illuminate systemic injustices and constrain individual or collective agency (Fraser Reference Fraser2020; Young Reference Young2005). Intersectional scholarship further underscores the need to differentiate between forms of oppression, emphasising that gendered, racial, and ethnic inequalities operate through distinct mechanisms and should not be conflated without critical attention to context (Crenshaw Reference Crenshaw1989; Collins Reference Collins1999). Eowyn’s critique anticipates these theoretical concerns, highlighting that an overgeneralised victimhood narrative risks flattening the diversity of women’s historical and social experiences, and may inadvertently reproduce hierarchies under the guise of solidarity. By situating Eowyn’s arguments within these conceptual frameworks, one can appreciate the magazine’s insistence on preserving women’s agency and historical specificity while interrogating the potential limitations of victimhood-focused feminist discourse. The women of Eowyn further critique this ‘distorting feminism’ for its unconventional conflation of Jews, Black people, and the proletariat with women, which casts men as bourgeois and women as the embodiment of the proletariat (Eowyn, undated). Although not explicitly cited, the women of Eowyn also offer a pointed critique of Andrea Dworkin’s (Reference Dworkin1981) analogy of women to survivors of Nazi concentration camps.

Eowyn argues that a form of feminism which victimises women and diminishes their historical roles carries profound consequences, including propelling women ‘towards a completely alienating identity crisis’ and ‘into a forced search for an identity that relies on male models’ (Silvia n.d.). According to the contributors to Eowyn, this variant of feminism ‘attempts to emancipate women in a manner that can be shared but does so through the adoption of male models’, resulting in a ‘dispossession of women for the benefit of men’, which in turn leads to a ‘loss of female identity’ and an entry into the ‘masculine grave’ (Eowyn n.d.).

Within this framework, it is considered essential to ‘assign meaning to future struggles of women to reclaim their identities within a massifying and levelling society’, recognising that women inhabit multiple roles – as mothers, wives, educators, and workers (M.E.A. 1976). Work for women must therefore remain a matter of choice; indiscriminate participation in the labour market fosters a ‘masculinised’ identity, drawing women into the vortex of productivism associated with both capitalist and communist industrialisation (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 313).

Eowyn articulates the view that there are two distinct forms of women’s struggles: those aimed at liberating women from the clichés of bourgeois tradition, and those seeking to eliminate all distinctions between the sexes. The former is characterised as a ‘personalising’ feminism, which the magazine advocates, whereas the latter is identified as an ‘egalitarian, massifying feminism’, regarded as constituting a total regression (Eowyn n.d., 9). Within this framework, the contributors address the theme of gender differentiation, arguing that where a distinction between man and woman exists, a dialectical and developmental process is established; conversely, where progressive indifferentiation prevails, conflict and stagnation ensue. From this premise, the women of Eowyn assert that women’s emancipation is both legitimate and necessary, insofar as it is linked to the realisation of the individual. In contrast, they maintain that the concept of liberation represents a doctrine of mass selfishness (Eowyn n.d.).

The statements of these militant women reflect a concern for what Antoinette Fouque (Reference Fouque1995, 8) later characterises as ‘unisexual and matricidal democracy’. The warnings issued by Eowyn regarding the perceived dangers of gender indifferentiation resonate with the arguments advanced by Sylviane Agacinski (Reference Agacinski2001, 42, 64), who contends that the ideal of reducing differences embodies a totalitarian fantasy aimed at standardising individuals. According to Agacinski, nothing is more detrimental than the aspiration to construct a society of homogeneous individuals, freed from conflict through extreme uniformity.

Another theme central to Eowyn is the concept of false gender opposition. According to the magazine’s contributors, ‘if there is a female problem, there is a male problem; it is a problem for both, stemming from a crisis of roles’ (Marilena n.d., 1–2). Gender opposition in a world that ‘has lost the meaning of the words man and woman’ is regarded as a spurious dichotomy. The militants assert that it is essential to address this misconception by continuing the struggle for women’s societal roles and by promoting the understanding that social improvement requires a harmonious and complementary contribution from both men and women (M.E.A. 1976, 3). This perspective is characterised as ‘personalising feminism’, which advocates for women’s equal rights while affirming the significance of female roles and rejecting the notion of liberation that seeks to abolish male and female identities and roles.

A further theme addressed in the magazine, drawing on news reports, concerns sexual violence, which is interpreted as a consequence of social and cultural distortions that have fostered the conception of ‘a woman who becomes a pleasure machine’, contributing to the perception that ‘it is no longer possible to accept that a woman can say no to a man’ (Elisabetta 1976, 7). While rejecting the reduction of sexual violence to a simple male-rapist equation, the militants argue that Italian sexuality is predominantly articulated and represented from a masculine perspective. To confront the issue of rape, the women of Eowyn propose two forms of intervention: the first involves advocating cultural change that recognises women’s sexual pleasure, while the second calls for harsher penalties for rapists. In Eowyn 1982 (p.7), the case of two women who killed their daughters’ rapist is presented, with the act justified in terms of ‘the sacredness of punishment’.

Although far-right women express a need for stricter sentencing for rapists and for reforms to sexual violence laws with considerable rhetorical emphasis, they remain attentive to, rather than aligned with, what Badinter (Reference Badinter2006, 30) identifies as ‘the danger of binary categories’. Specifically, they do not posit a singular form of masculinity; rather, they contend that multiple forms exist, analogous to the diverse expressions of femininity.

Another issue receiving significant attention in Eowyn is that of abortion. Generally, abortion is framed as ‘a murder and a false freedom of the woman’, which ‘can be avoided through an adequate prevention campaign using contraceptives’. The contributors assert that the state bears responsibility for presenting abortion as a viable option, which they regard as a form of murder that unjustly places the burden on women. They contend that the perceived necessity for abortion arises from the inefficiencies and obscurantist attitudes of both society and the state. According to these far-right women, the state should ensure the provision of ‘nurseries, family counselling, and pre-marital counselling centres with specific medical care in every neighbourhood’, as well as ‘appropriate sex education courses in schools’ (M.E.A. 1976, 3). In this framing, abortion is treated as a right ostensibly afforded to women, which ultimately functions to transfer the weight of a complex decision onto them. This recourse to abortion is understood as a consequence of the state’s failure to provide adequate sex education, promote contraceptive use, and develop accessible support structures such as kindergartens. Consequently, the women of Eowyn argue that women are left to bear the burden and endure the consequences of a bigoted and inefficient society and state.

The magazine frequently engaged in contentious debates with the MSI, the parliamentary party of the Italian right during this period. One of the most acrimonious disputes concerned the MSI’s proposal to provide a salary to housewives, which the women of Eowyn deemed ‘demeaning’ (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a, 315). While far-right women expressed concern that women’s entry into productivism could be misleading – presenting the appearance of self-realisation while ultimately subjecting them to the harsh realities of productivist exploitation rather than facilitating genuine freedom of choice – they vehemently opposed the MSI’s proposal, perceiving it as a limitation on women’s autonomy and an impediment to their pursuit of personal affirmation. Moreover, the contributors emphasised that, despite the increasing participation of women in the workforce, this new role did not supplant traditional responsibilities but rather compounded existing duties (Fig. 5).

Figure 5.

An image from Eowyn attributing the alienation of contemporary individuals to technological society.

Figure 5 Long description

An illustration showing a complex cityscape with various industrial and architectural elements, symbolizing the alienation of modern man in a technological society. The structures are interconnected with bridges and pipes, creating a dense urban environment. Below the illustration, the text reads: 'L'alienazione dell'uomo moderno nella società tecnologica.'.

Another significant theme addressed by Eowyn concerns fashion. The magazine highlights the dangers posed by the mechanisms of fashion and its marketing, which can transform fashion into a ‘life purpose’. This concern arises within a broader culture of hedonism, regarded as pervasive and increasingly influential in society (Isabella 1976). According to the women of Eowyn, advanced marketing techniques associated with fashion pose challenges that extend beyond mere consumerism. They argue that fashion transcends the superficial dictates of trends and hedonistic allure, aspiring instead to reshape female identity, with the assertion that ‘it is not a haircut or a style that is in fashion, but a type of woman’ (Flavia n.d., 4). The contributors express concern regarding the imposition of a singular, undifferentiated, and heterodirected model of femininity, which, by succumbing to the allure of uncritical individualism, ultimately constrains women’s self-determination.

A radical reframing: the theoretical dimensions and conclusions of far-right feminism

A preliminary theoretical framework for far-right feminism can be established by situating it relative to relational/Marxist and modernist/individualist feminism (Offen Reference Offen1988). Far-right women categorically reject the relational/Marxist paradigm, which posits capitalism and patriarchy as constitutive of women’s oppression and constructs gender as socially imposed (Jackson Reference Jackson2001). Eowyn militants repudiate historical narratives of invariant female subjugation, conceiving them as incapacitating and counterproductive, and posit that crises of female identity are interdependent with crises of male identity. While acknowledging that capitalism shapes industrial production and affects women (Hennessy Reference Hennessy1993), they dispute the necessary linkage between domestic labour and patriarchal exploitation.

Far-right women attribute subordination and disorientation of women to the advent of industrial productivism, yet emphasise historical contingency and reject the presumption that inter-gender collaboration constitutes female subordination. The central divergence from relational/Marxist feminism lies in the refusal to posit a permanent, universal history of women’s oppression via capitalism-patriarchy interplay. Capitalism and communism are construed as dual manifestations of materialist productivism, alienating to all genders; gendered stereotypes structure social behaviour reciprocally, warranting integrated analysis.

Engagement with modernist/individualist feminism is limited and selective, principally concerning the historical genesis of feminist movements and rights struggles (Kennedy Taylor Reference Kennedy Taylor1992; Reference Kennedy Taylor1993). Eowyn militants advocate for the advancement of women’s rights irrespective of ideological alignment, while critiquing modernism – and individualism in particular – as socially fragmenting. ‘Personalising feminism’ thus emerges as a sui generis trajectory, distinct from relational/Marxist and modernist/individualist frameworks, foregrounding cross-ideological collaboration and organicist social cohesion.

Theoretical foundations of ‘personalising feminism’ include communitarianism and an organicist conception of the state as a community of interdependent individuals (Evola Reference Evola2004; Olivetti Reference Olivetti1927; Sermonti Reference Sermonti2003; Preve Reference Preve2006). Within this schema, social functioning requires contribution from all members, and feminism is collaborative rather than adversarial; men are expected to assume responsibility in women’s struggles. By rejecting victim-oriented historiography, far-right women facilitate dialogue with politically aligned men, positioning leadership potential within an organicist framework of society.

Female emancipation is conceived not as an autonomous goal but as integrally linked to societal well-being. Industrialisation constitutes the pivotal locus of female identity crisis; participation in capitalist or communist productivist mechanisms imposes male norms designed to expand productive capacity. Work is framed as a voluntary modality of self-realisation, balanced with domestic responsibilities. Crises of female identity are mutually constitutive with male identity, and gender antagonism is explicitly rejected.

It is useful to visualise, in the table below (Table 1), how Eowyn’s ‘personalising feminism’ relates to other feminist theories, demonstrating that men share imposed gender roles and that dialogue with men should be encouraged, with men taking responsibility for supporting women’s struggles in a framework of mutual support:

Table 1.

Summary table of the conclusions and Eowyn’s ‘personalising feminism’ in relation to other feminist theories

Table 1 Long description

The table compares three feminist approaches across seven themes: oppression, gender roles, capitalism and industrialisation, ideology, core concepts, feminist strategy, and women’s work. Relational or Marxist feminism treats women’s oppression as permanent and universal, rooted in capitalism and patriarchy, and views gender roles as socially imposed. Modernist or individualist feminism centres individual autonomy and legal equality, with less emphasis on economic structures. Eowyn’s far-right “personalising feminism” rejects narratives of perpetual female subjugation and argues that productivism and industrialisation drive alienation and identity crises for both sexes. On gender roles, Eowyn emphasises linked male and female identity crises and promotes collaboration rather than opposition, contrasting with Marxist critiques of male dominance and modernist focus on personal liberation. On political stance, Marxist feminism is anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchal, modernist feminism is individualist and modernist, and Eowyn’s position is far-right, communitarian, anti-modernist, and anti-individualist, framing the state as an organic entity. Regarding work, Marxist feminism links domestic and industrial labour to exploitation, modernist feminism treats work as a route to freedom, and Eowyn argues work should be voluntary and self-realising while balancing domestic and professional roles. Interpretive caveat: the third column reflects a specific ideological framing and uses evaluative terms such as “victimhood,” which may not be shared across feminist scholarship.

It is also instructive to observe that the analysis of Eowyn reveals a complex phenomenon of adherence to and rearticulation of feminist themes and discourses within a nationalist, traditionalist, and anti-egalitarian ideological framework, situated within a broader schema of autonomous feminism. This study thus enables the formulation of analytically significant conclusions by synthesising the empirical findings and systematically situating them within broader models of far-right ideological production.

First, the case of Eowyn demonstrates that far-right female activism cannot be dismissed as mere passive acquiescence to patriarchy or as an anomaly (Guerra Reference Guerra2022a; Reference Guerra2024). On the contrary, it constitutes a privileged site of political subjectivation, wherein women actively negotiate, internalise, and rearticulate dominant discourses. Eowyn militants exercise relational agency: while operating within authoritarian and hierarchical structures, they claim an autonomous space of thought and action, contesting both egalitarian feminism and the more reactionary positions within their own political milieus (such as the MSI). Their critique of ‘massified feminism’ and the promotion of a ‘personalising feminism’ represent an effort to construct a female identity that integrates claims to autonomy with the affirmation of traditional and differentialist roles.

Second, the analysis of the magazine allows for the identification of a recurring ideological pattern within the far right, and beyond: the strategy of ‘personalisation’ or selective engagement (Minkenberg Reference Minkenberg2001; Mouffe Reference Mouffe2018). Eowyn activists do not reject feminism outright but rather deconstruct and reformulate it along anti-universalist and anti-egalitarian lines. They draw selectively on feminist theory (Friedan, Stassinopoulos) to critique both capitalist society and radical feminism, charging each with erasing difference and producing alienation. This mechanism of ‘far-right differentialist feminism’ – which emphasises biological and spiritual complementarity between the sexes while rejecting emancipation conceived as assimilation to male models – both anticipates and illuminates contemporary dynamics (Sommers Reference Sommers1995; Badinter Reference Badinter2006).

Third, the study of Eowyn reveals the transversal nature of cultural references and the fluidity of ideological boundaries within the far right of the period. The deployment of Tolkien, engagement with ecologism, selective anti-capitalism, attempts to transcend binary extremes, and dialogue with themes from the ‘77 counterculture indicate female activism embedded within a broader generational and cultural renewal of the right. This underscores that the right is not a monolithic bloc but a contested field in which identities and strategies are continually negotiated, and in which women can act as agents of symbolic modernisation while remaining aligned with core dogmatic principles (nation, hierarchy, difference) (Guerra Reference Guerra2024).

Finally, this case study contributes to theorising the appeal of the far right to women. It demonstrates that such appeal is not predicated on the denial of female agency, but rather on the promise of a ‘protected’ form of identity recognition. Eowyn provides its readership with a discourse that legitimises their disquiet toward a society perceived as massifying and nihilistic (both capitalist and Marxist), confers a historically and politically ‘noble’ and ‘distinct’ role (the woman as custodian of tradition and community), and simultaneously affords a space for critique and personal self-assertion. This configuration – which transforms potential tensions with the movement’s patriarchal structures into a cohesive force grounded in the defence of a differential identity – remains a potent resource for far-right movements both past and present (Koonz Reference Koonz1986; Dietze and Roth Reference Dietze and Roth2020; Guerra Reference Guerra2022a).

In conclusion, the analysis of Eowyn demonstrates that female activism within the Italian right of the 1970s and 1980s constituted a sophisticated phenomenon of political subjectivation. It not only enriches our historical understanding of the period but also provides a crucial analytical model for decoding the contemporary strategies through which the globalised right attracts and mobilises women, integrating their aspirations within an anti-egalitarian, nationalist, and organicist worldview. The study thereby underscores the importance of examining female voices within these movements not as marginal, but as revealing of both transformations and enduring structural logics at the core of far-right ideology.